The massive kitchens at Hampton Court were built to supply the entire household of Henry VIII. They were the first professional kitchens organised on such a scale. Brears provides a practical guide to their running, dispelling many of the misconceptions about the cooking and eating of meals in Tudor England.Including authentic recipes from the period, adapted for modern kitchens, such as Chicken Farced and Smothered Rabbit and White Leach (a form of cool jelly), All the King's C...

Peter Brears has a long acquaintance with jellies in every guise. He was fed them in childhood, he turned to curating their moulds and associated artefacts while director of York and Leeds museums, he has made them for innumerable historical food shows and events.And jelly is a much bigger thing than some packet from the supermarket mixed with boiling water. In the first place, it was not factory-made gelatine that did the setting, but any number of ingenious adaptations of kitchen materia...

Top Withins farm on Stanbury Moor, West Yorkshire, is internationally famous as the inspiration for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and is visited by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world every year. Apart from the Brontë connection, it stands on the Pennine Way and is one of the highlights for the many who walk it each year. As well as tracing the history of the Withins farms and their inhabitants from 1567 to the present day, this book looks at the everyday life of the...

"A brilliant collection of recipes, receipts, restoratives and remarkable cures from the Georgian era . . . a joy to read out to your friends and family." —Books MonthlyDiscover the recipes for Mrs. Rooke's Very Good Plum Cake and Lady Harbord's Marigold Cheese. Learn how to preserve gooseberries "as green as they grow" and make Sir Theodore Colladon's Peach Flower Syrup. Feast on Lady St. Quintin's Dutch Pudding and Mrs. Eall's Candied Cowslips. Then wash it all do...

"Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period" by P. L. Jacob offers a detailed exploration of the social practices and attire that defined two significant eras in European history. The book delves into the intricate customs that governed daily life, from courtly behavior to the roles of different social classes. Jacob meticulously describes how clothing styles evolved, reflecting the cultural and economic changes of the time, and how these fashions ...

The political and military history of the sixteenth century is well known, and much written about, but what of the thousands of women who have, for the most part, eluded the historian's pen? The Tudor Housewife aims to answer this question, providing a unique and accessible introduction to everyday life and responsibilities of women from all levels of society in the age of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. With chapters on marriage, childbirth, the upbringing of children, washing and cleaning, f...

Anne Boleyn was the most controversial and scandalous woman ever to sit on the throne of England. From her early days at the imposing Hever Castle in Kent, to the glittering courts of Paris and London, Anne caused a stir wherever she went. Alluring but not beautiful, Annes wit and poise won her numerous admirers at the English court, and caught the roving eye of King Henry.Anne was determined to shape her own destiny, first through a secret engagement to Henry Percy, the heir of th...

The sixth wife of Henry VIII was also the most married queen of England, outliving three husbands before finally marrying for love. Catherine Parr was enjoying her freedom after her first two arranged marriages when she caught the attention of the elderly Henry VIII.She was the most reluctant of all Henrys wives, offering to become his mistress rather than submit herself to the dangers of becoming Henrys queen. This only served to increase Henrys enthusiasm for the young widow and ...

Jane Seymour is often portrayed as meek and mild and as the most successful, but one of the least significant, of Henry VIIIs wives. The real Jane was a very different character, demure and submissive yet with a ruthless streak as Anne Boleyn was being tried for treason, Jane was choosing her wedding dress. From the lowliest origins of any of Henrys wives her rise shows an ambition every bit as great as Annes.Elizabeth Norton tells the thrilling life of a country girl from rural Wil...

It's not all longing looks across the dining room from that high-class gentleman! Life as a Victorian servant was tough, tough, tough! Discover the bizarre and oh-so-strict rules one had to keep to when serving the dignitaries in 'Victorian Servants: A Very Peculiar History'. Rise up through the ranks from washerwoman to housemaid to ladies' maid and beyond, but mind you don't keep any 'followers', as boyfriends are immoral and are strictly not allowed! While you wait on hand and foot from...

It's 1939 and Isobel is visiting her grandmother, Polly, the housekeeper at crumbling Swallowcliffe Hall. Izzie's meant to be resting after a serious illness but with talk of war on everyone's lips, life is anything but peaceful, even deep in the English countryside. Izzie meets Andreas, a Jewish boy who has fled Nazi Germany on the Kindertransporte: the evacuation of thousands of Jewish children to safety in Britain. He's left his family behind and now they're in terrible danger. If war b...

Medieval Cuisine from Food Fare features information about food and culture in the Middle Ages, including the history of medieval dishes, kitchen utensils and other cooking tools, etiquette, dining, holy days, common recipes, food terms, words and phrases, a medieval day in the life, and links for further study. *UPDATED in May 2013 with 15 new recipes and extra content.*